Chapter 35

            When she saw Andrea walking out of the reception hall, the wedding coordinator walked up to Nick and asked him where she was going.

            “Heather, relax, she’s just going to the bathroom,” Nick responded with a chuckle in his voice. Heather was a great wedding coordinator, to the point where it was the perfect career for her for many positive and obvious reasons, including being very well organized and on top of every minute detail that needed to be covered, however there were times when something was going on that she didn’t need to know about, but she always made a point to make it her business.

            “Well, did anyone go with her? She’s going to have quite a problem doing what she needs to do with that wedding dress on all by herself.” Nick shrugged his shoulders, not really worried about it. “Well, I’m going to go check on her.” Heather turned from Nick and was making her way towards the door when one of the servers approached her with a question. She took a few minutes to fix whatever problem had reared its ugly head, and then before she could get sidetracked again, she walked out of the reception hall and into the hallway leading to the terrace.

            Heather poked her head into the bathroom only to find it completely unoccupied. She looked back into the reception hall to make sure she hadn’t missed Andrea’s return to the festivities, but did not see her in there either. “She’s walking around in an enormous white dress and I can’t see her anywhere, what’s wrong with that?” Heather asked rhetorically, talking to herself.

            She was about to go alert the groom that his bride was nowhere to be found when she caught a sparkle out of the corner of her eye. She turned back towards the terrace and saw the moonlight shining off of the beading on Andrea’s wedding dress. “What in the world is she doing out there? She doesn’t even have her wedding cloak on, she must be crazy!” Heather started walking quickly over to the terrace doors to bring the bride back inside when she saw someone standing with Andrea, his arms wrapped around her body.

            “How did Nick get past me and out here so fast? Why are they even out here, the food is going to be served any minute!” Heather reached for the shining brass handles to open the French style doors, but stopped mid turn and gasped. She saw the man holding Andrea so closely, so tenderly, was not her groom of only a few hours, but rather the best man.

            Heather reeled back from the door and turned Mission-Impossible-style towards the wall next to the doors, so that her back was pressed tight against the wall and her arms were at her side. She stood there for a minute, holding her breath, hoping Andrea and AJ did not see her standing there. Oh my God, what do I do? Maybe they are just talking and he’s trying to keep her warm, Heather thought, trying to convince herself that the entire wedding had not been a mistake. She kneeled down onto the ground and in one stealth-like move, she twisted her body around so that she could peer out the bottom corner window of the doors. “Oh Mary and Joseph they’re kissing!” she shrieked, and she stood up so quickly she stepped on the bottom of her dress and almost ripped it.

            “I’m going to find my wife and let the wedding coordinator know everyone is ready to eat. I’ll be right back,” a voice yelled from the doorway to the reception hall.

            “Oh shit, he’s coming,” Heather announced to no one in particular as she struggled to not panic. “What do I do? Oh my God I am not getting paid enough to handle crap like this!” She saw the door to the reception hall open and she knew she had to think fast. She slid into the alcove where some of the guests’ coats were hanging, and as she saw his shadow approaching she stuck her foot out and tripped him.

            “What are you doing?” he yelled as he stumbled to regain his footing. “Are you trying to kill me?” Heather grabbed his hand and veered him away from the terrace, apologizing for tripping him as she pulled him back into the reception hall.

            “It’s Nick,” Andrea gasped as she pushed AJ away from her. “I love him and I can’t do this to him. We could have had something Alex, but the key phrase is could have. You made your move for Annie and that left me for Nick, that’s the decision you made.” She turned from him and walked back inside, leaving Alex alone on the terrace.

            As she was walking back towards the reception hall, she saw Heather walking toward her. “Sorry I took so long. I was in the bathroom and having a hell of time with this wedding dress---” Andrea began, but Heather put her hand up to stop her.

            “I stalled Nick and got him away from the terrace, he didn’t see anything. I don’t know what is going on with you and Alex, but you better keep it under lock and key a little better next time.” Heather took Andrea by the arm and led her into the reception hall before she could respond.

            “I was getting worried, is everything okay?” Nick asked as he walked up to her and kissed her. “Your lips are so cold.” He put his hand on her cheek. “Your face is too, was it that cold in the bathroom?” He ran his hands up and down her arms to warm her.

            “No baby, I stepped outside for a minute after using the restroom. I was getting really warm in this dress and just needed a bit of fresh air. You know Wisconsin, it doesn’t take long for things to freeze in the winter.” She smiled at him, her stomach twitching at the lie she had just told. Damn you Alexander James McLean, Damn you.
Nick placed his hand on the small of Andrea’s back and escorted her to the table. Annie looked up at her as she pulled out her chair and sat down.

            “Have you seen Alex anywhere? He’s been gone for almost ten minutes and he didn’t even tell me he was leaving.”

            “No, I haven’t seen him,” Andrea responded, shrugging her shoulders to make her lie seem more convincing. She averted her eyes to the plate in front of her and began picking at the tablecloth. She didn’t even look up when she heard AJ walking back into the room or when he took his place on the other side of Nick at the table.

            “Jesus Bone, I can feel the coldness coming off of you, were you in the freezer in the kitchen or something?” she heard Nick ask as AJ sat down next to him.

            “Oh, umm, no, I, well, I just stepped outside to have a cigarette,” he stammered. And the lies start again, he thought grimly to himself.

            “Wow, you and Andrea are gone the same amount of time, you both come back purple and cold, if I didn’t know better, I’d think the two of you were having a secret tryst outside or something,” Nick joked, as he put his right arm around Andrea and his left arm around AJ.

            Neither of them noticed the lightheartedness or the mocking tone with which Nick spoke in, all they heard was someone catching them in their deceit. They both froze, panic and frenzy overtaking them, wondering what to say or how to act. Alex was the first to jump to action.

            “Oh, man, that’s a good one! Like I would have a tryst with your wife on your wedding day!” I don’t know how I got so good at lying, but it’s not a talent I am proud to have.

            “Yeah, really. I married you, remember?” Andrea said, as she leaned over the kissed her husband passionately. We’ve only been married for four hours and I already have a secret to keep from you forever, she solemnly thought. She felt AJ’s eyes bearing down on her as she kissed her husband. Why didn’t he make his move sooner? Why did he go all this time, hiding his feelings, having sex with my cousin? I can’t believe this is happening.

            Her internal monologue was interrupted by the servers delivering their meals to them. They started eating, joking and talking throughout the entire meal. By the time the servers were clearing the dishes away, the incident on the terrace had been pushed back from the front of her mind and she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

            “Okay wedding party, while the tables are being taken down and the dance floor is getting set up, we are going to take some more pictures,” Laurie announced. Laurie was Heather’s assistant and she was in charge of photography. “Let me go make sure Brandy is all set up outside. Ladies, check your makeup and hair. Gentlemen…. check whatever you need to check before betting pictures taken.”

            A few minutes later, the entire wedding party was assembled outside on the terrace, surrounded by the magnificent beauty of winter night in Wisconsin, the same magnificence that Andrea and Alex had already partaken in.

            “These nighttime shots are going to be amazing,” Brandy said as she perched herself behind the camera. Brandy was the photographer that Laurie had hired at Andrea’s request. Brandy had done quite a bit of work for Annie and Andrea’s company and Andrea knew she would do a fabulous job with the wedding pictures.

            Fifteen minutes later the wedding party, Brandy, and Laurie were on their way back inside to thaw. “For a minute there, I thought the shutter on the camera was going to freeze shut!” Brandy laughed as she hung her coat up in the alcove. “But I can assure you, those shots are going to be immaculate.”

            “Thank you so much for doing the wedding,” Andrea said as she gave Brandy a quick hug.

            “It’s been my pleasure, really,” Brandy replied smiling. “All I have left to do is take some shots of you and Nick dancing and I should be all done here, well for working anyway! I can’t wait to put the equipment away and bust a move on the dance floor!”

            “I wish I could,” said Laurie, joining in on the conversation. “But Sergeant Heather would never allow that!” The girls laughed as they walked back into the reception hall. Andrea was so preoccupied with keeping her mind of what happened with Alex on the terrace that she didn’t notice her cousin slip into the bathroom by herself or Alex trying to follow her in there and Nick pulling him away from the bathroom door.